From Public Seminar, Jeffrey C. Isaac on Clinton vs. Sanders: Who’s the real progressive? Bernie Sanders has all the upsides and all the downsides of a political outsider; Hillary Clinton has all the upsides and all the downsides of a political insider. Why Bernie Sanders can’t govern: Hillary Clinton’s realistic attitude is the only thing that can effect change in today’s political climate. “We are so Lockean we don’t even realize it”: Jonathan Schlefer on Louis Hartz and why America is too liberal to elect Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders, public menace: Because the Democratic Party is currently the only major U.S. party devoted to moderation and rational empiricism, Sanders’s robust campaign for president is consequently a threat to the U.S. Bernie Sanders’s strong campaign is solving Hillary Clinton’s biggest problem: The reality is that no matter how annoying Clinton, her team, and the dozens of senior party figures backing her may find it, Sanders’s attacks are in Clinton's long-term best interest.
Jonathan Chait on why liberals should support a Trump nomination. Emily Ekins and Jonathan Haidt on how Donald Trump supporters think about morality differently than other voters: Moral Foundations Theory was invented to compare different human cultures — but it can also explain our political landscape. If “establishment” is code for “moderate”, media need to stop calling Rubio the establishment candidate. Jeb Bush may actually have a shot at the Republican nomination.
This is what makes Republicans and Democrats so different. America’s political parties are just tribes now: In 2015, once high-minded disagreements over policy and ideology descended into something much more primitive. Julia Azari on the political power of going negative: The most negative advertisements can also be the most informative and Twitter is empowering female candidates to be more aggressive. Are attack ads good for democracy? Laura Reston on how all that negativity on the airwaves in Iowa and New Hampshire might just be serving a purpose.
